I’m pretty sure this guy, Delano, who was working in an “acting” capacity as DPR director until June was doing precisely what he was instructed to do by his boss, the mayor. She ok’d this bogus deal for a small private school with wealthy, well-connected families. |
So, the mayor will have to be shamed into doing the right thing? Maybe that was why people at the meeting were encouraged to highlight the inequity of the deal. It would be hard for the mayor to publicly oppose letting less privileged kids be restricted from using the field.
Since the mayor has ignored previous complaints and now the petition, seems like organizers will need to consider other options to make the mayor at least acknowledge the issue. |
Not sure the mayor is capable of shame. |
We are going around in circles. The only way this has a hope of being reversed is mass media coverage. The only way to get that coverage is to give them an unusual event to cover. An unusual event is not an ANC vote, a petition, or a council-member taking a stand. An unusual event is direct action. The most newsworthy form of direct action is a sit-in of the Jelleff fields by Hardy students (and/or the Boys and Girls Club participants). Why have the Hardy parents not organized this already? |
Is there any factual support for this statement, or is it speculation? |
Like much of this entire thread, it seems to be a Dinesh D’Souza inspired conspiracy theory fever dream. |
Speculation, because when there is a seemingly-irrational deal made in a non-open process, speculation naturally arises. Maret wants fields -> DC buys land and gives prime-time access to Maret, in contravention of regulations -> Jack Evans’s son gets into Maret That series if events is begging for more facts. |
It’s also kind of sad that the principal of one of the better DCPS public schools wants to send his kid to Maret. |
Yup. Too bad the Washington Post article was just a “he said, she said” piece without actually digging into the history of the deal. I’m sure they could have found someone who could connect the dots on how this deal came about. |
The Mayor has a history of "going where the money is" when it comes to schools. She screwed over the "Save Shaw" people and plucked a prime piece of real estate for her Banneker boosters and constituents, to the detriment of the Shaw neighborhood. Now she's handing over Jelleff's public space to super-rich Maret in exchange for the lease and no doubt Maret's money political contributions. It's pure money and constituent politics. The long-run risk, however, is that she's alienated voters in Shaw and now Ward 2/Ward 3. It looks bad, and could be used by a savvy political opponent against her. |
As I understand it, Maret has use of the Jelleff field for the rest of this school year, right? The new deal begins in August 2020? |
Isn’t there room on Hardy’s campus for a full-sized field? If DPR and DCPS are so flush with cash, then how about altering Hardy’s campus as well for a useful, larger field space, opening up a Jelleff for more time for the BGC and renovating Ellington field with lights and parking and artificial turf for expanded usefulness? |
The principal of a DCPS elementary school sends his kid to a 40k/year private school?!?!?!?! |
Check out the satellite images on Google Maps of Hardy and Jelleff across the street. There is not sufficient space at Hardy. |
Then at the very least, redoing Ellington should also be a top priority with turf, parking, and lights. That would benefit even more DCPS kids and prevent BGC from not having field space at Jelleff in the afternoons. I hope Putta is is working with the neighbors of Ellington Field to better realize much needed athletic fields for the tax-paying citizens of DC. How did DCPS transfer Ellington to DPR this summer? Who had discussions about that? Has Putta reached out to neighbors to make sure they are ok with a woefully underused Ellington field becoming a vibrant playing field for DC youth? |